I recently switched to Linux and installed a polished Hyprland configuration designed for Arch Linux and Wayland. I customized it a little and initially enjoyed experimenting with themes, packages, and other parts of the setup. These days, though, I mainly use the laptop for browsing, watching videos, studying, and other ordinary tasks, so I rarely spend time customizing it anymore.
My concern is disk usage. The system is taking considerably more space than I expected, and I'm not sure whether the cause is Pacman's package cache, AUR helper caches, unused dependencies, Flatpak or Snap packages, old configuration files, logs, or extra software installed by the configuration. I have occasionally cleared the Pacman cache and recovered about 10 GB, but the disk still seems unusually full.
Am I using an unnecessarily complicated setup for my needs, or is there no real problem as long as it works well and I enjoy it? Would switching to a simpler desktop environment or distribution offer any meaningful benefit?
I'd also appreciate advice on safely identifying what is consuming the space and cleaning up unnecessary files without damaging the system. I'm still fairly new to Linux, so I'd prefer tools and commands that make it clear what will be removed before I confirm anything.
5 Answers
First find out where the space is going instead of deleting things at random. Tools such as ncdu, Filelight, Baobab, QDirStat, or gdu can show which directories are largest. Also compare the output of df and du, since the issue may be in your home directory rather than the operating system itself. Check for large downloads, videos, browser data, Flatpak runtimes, logs, and old dotfiles.
A rice or dotfile collection can install far more than just themes and window-manager settings. Personal setup scripts may add utilities, fonts, launchers, terminals, notification tools, and other packages that you never use. Review the package list and remove individual programs you recognize as unnecessary rather than performing a broad cleanup. Old configuration files in your home directory can also remain after software is uninstalled, although they usually take much less space than large media files or package caches.
You don’t need to reinstall or switch distributions immediately. Keep the current setup while it meets your needs, learn how its packages and caches work, and make backups before experimenting. If you eventually want less maintenance, a conventional desktop such as KDE Plasma on Fedora, Debian, or Mint may be more comfortable, but that is a preference and convenience decision—not a requirement for using Linux correctly.
There’s nothing wrong with using Arch and Hyprland for normal tasks if the system works and you enjoy the setup. A simpler distribution might reduce maintenance, but it won’t automatically prevent disk usage from growing. Any system can accumulate packages, caches, application data, and old configuration files over time.
Reinstalling just to use a different desktop is probably unnecessary if the current setup is stable. You can always change later if maintenance becomes frustrating.
Pacman’s cache can grow substantially. You can remove older cached package versions with a cache-cleaning utility, or use Pacman’s cache options carefully. Removing all cached packages means you lose the ability to downgrade using those local copies, so keeping a few recent versions is usually safer. Also review orphaned packages, but check the proposed list before removing anything.
AUR helpers and build directories can have their own caches too. Check those separately, and remember that packages from the AUR should only be installed when you understand what they are and why you need them.
Graphical tools like Filelight are especially useful for beginners because they provide a visual breakdown. Inspect a directory before removing anything, and avoid deleting files from system directories just because they look unfamiliar.